Fred Rings in the New Year on the Farm

By Robert Seay, U of A Division of Agriculture

First posted on 01-07-2008

BENTONVILLE, Ark. - As noted in a recent article, technology continues to make rapid changes in the world of production agriculture. Some producers are quick to adapt, while others take a conservative approach and let the bugs get worked out before buying in.

Fred was a quick adopter, especially in regards to his cell phone, but was aggravated by its size. Simply put, it was a headache to keep up with and he managed to lose it on more than one occasion. By borrowing another phone and retracing his steps around the farm, Fred always managed to ring up his cell phone location before the cows stepped on it.

Fred finally solved the problem by tying one end of a string to his phone and the other to his belt loop, which initiated chuckles from friends and family but the string worked. At least until last week!

Returning home after feeding hay on Christmas morning, Fred discovered the string had slipped off and his cell phone was gone. To make matters worse, the routine of dialing the number while retracing his morning steps failed to locate the phone.

Earl stopped by the next morning in time to join Fred on his hay feeding routine. While talking cows and weather, an unusual sound continued to intrude on the otherwise pleasant morning. As the cows continued to quietly munch hay the two men walked around them trying to locate the source of the sound.

As he stopped next to one old cow and listened intently, Fred could hardly believe his ears, “I’ll be dad-blamed! That’s my cell phone ringing and it’s coming from inside this old cow!” After a great deal of speculation they concluded that Fred had lost his phone while feeding hay and the cow had somehow managed to swallow it.

Earl commented, “I’ve seen cattle chew on plastic bags, milk jugs and stuff, but never thought they might swallow a cell phone.” Fred just stood there in a stupor, listening to the infrequent ringing of the phone. Walking over to the pickup, Earl retrieved an OB sleeve from the veterinary kit and calmly handed it to Fred.

A puzzled look on his face, Fred asked, “What’s that for?” Without blinking Earl replied, “Aren’t you going to answer it?” ‘Til next week!

The Cooperative Extension Service is part of the U of A Division of Agriculture.